Verdict Against Ford for Faulty Accelerator
Posted by Administrator (admin) on Apr 26 2007 at 10:37 PM
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Georgia, USA - Apr 23, 2007 (PRN): A jury in New Brunswick, New Jersey ordered Ford Motor Company to pay more than $10.6 million dollars in compensatory and punitive damages in their verdict on Wednesday, April 18, 2007, in the New Jersey Middlesex County Superior Court. The $10.6 million was subsequently reduced to $8.3 million after comparative fault and interest was applied.

On November 10, 2000, Rebekah Zakrocki was injured when the gas pedal on her 1997 Ford Explorer stuck, which caused the 22 year old’s Explorer to roll over on the Garden State Parkway near Brick Township, New Jersey. Zakrocki’s right hand was amputated and she suffered a total bracheoplexis injury rendering her right arm paralyzed and dangling from her body.

During the trial in New Jersey state court the jury learned that Ford received more than 59,000 complaints of its gas pedals sticking on its 1997 and 1998 Ford Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers during the four years prior to Zakrocki’s accident. Despite pressure from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, Ford refused to warn its customers or recall the defective throttles which were causing the gas pedal to stick prior to Zakrocki’s accident.

Attorney Stephen G. Lowry of the law firm of Harris Penn & Lowry, LLP in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia and Barry Eichen from Eichen Levinson & Crutchlow, LLP in Edison, New Jersey represented Rebekah Zakrocki in her case against Ford Motor Company.

“I hope Ford will learn to act immediately when it knows its vehicles pose a danger to its consumer.” Said Lowry.